At least three people died when a passenger ship caught fire in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province on Sunday.

150 people were rescued in the accident, according to Veri Ariyanto, a senior official of the Provincial Search and Rescue Office.

'Three people have died and around 150 people have been rescued safely . They were rescued by a joint rescue team of security personnel and a boat of local fishermen,' he said . 

Search and rescue operations are still ongoing. According to Arianto, two ships, some boats have been deployed for rescue .

According to Dani Rapi, the head of the emergency team of the Provincial Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, a fire broke out on the ship "KM Barcelona Five" while traveling in the waters of Manado, the capital of Sulawesi province, at 1:00 pm local time.

He said there were about 280 people on board the ship.